Yes, They Call it The Streak

Records were made to be broken and, after 26 years, the frustration of losing repeatedly is finally over for Caltech. The Beavers, members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, ended a run of 310 consecutive losses Tuesday night with a 46-45 victory over Occidental in their season finale at the Braun Athletic Center. The streak started on January 23, 1985, with a 48-47 loss to La Verne and came to an end when Occidental missed a desperation shot at the buzzer. Coach Oliver Eslinger's team finished with a 5-20 mark, their best campaign in the past 15, after winning no more than one game per year during the past eight seasons. Division III Caltech does, however, lead the country in another more impressive statistic -- 31 alumni and faculty have won the Nobel Prize.

She Throws Like a Girl

A Cleveland native, Justine Siegal, 36, became the first woman to pitch batting practice in a major league spring training camp when she threw to the Cleveland Indians, wearing a patch to honor nine-year-old Christina Taylor, the granddaughter of former major league manager Dallas Green, who was killed in last month's shootings in Tucson. Siegal was the first woman to coach in men's professional baseball for the Brockton (Mass.) Rox, an independent league team, in 2009, and spent three years as the only female college baseball coach in the country at Springfield College (Mass.) from 2007-10. Perhaps the Tribe has finally found a reliable starter for its rotation.

How About Something for the Effort?

PGA pro D.A. Points won for the first time on the PGA Tour, but wasn't the biggest star in his own Pebble Beach National Pro-Am twosome. Points grew up idolizing Bill Murray, whose iconic role in the golf comedy cult classic "Caddyshack" as Carl Spackler, Bushwood's beloved assistant greenskeeper, made having the actor as an amateur partner a true "Cinderella" story. When Points holed out from 100 yards for eagle on the 14th to grab the lead, it carried him to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory. Making it even sweeter, the unlikely pair won the pro-am title, a first for Murray, who now gets his own name on the wall below the first tee. It's not always easy playing with Murray, who routinely engages the gallery, bought ice cream bars for them on the back nine, and a few years ago enraged PGA Tour officials after flinging an elderly woman into a nearby bunker. Points first win in 128 starts earned him $1.134 million -- more than he had made in four previous tour seasons -- a two-year exemption and his first trip to Augusta. You can almost hear Carl's voice on the call: "Here's D.A., out of nowhere, about to become Masters' champion."

Breed All About It

An Icelandic sheepdog, the Leonberger, the Boykin spaniel, the cane corso, the bluetick coonhound and the redbone coonhound were officially introduced Thursday in a New York hotel penthouse, right across the street from where they'll compete this week at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden. There are 179 breeds and varieties entered in America's most prestigious canine competition and several million pet lovers are expected to catch the coverage on USA Network and CNBC. One of the new breeds, the bluetick coonhound, is very familiar to college football and basketball fans as the longtime mascot for the University of Tennessee. Ironically, ring steward Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine (whose grandfather Arthur Turnbull was the first Packers team president) was one of 400 ticketholders turned away from Super Bowl XLV when temporary seating at Cowboys Stadium was declared unsafe. She watched from a stadium bar as Green Bay beat Pittsburgh 31-25. No doubt she'll be in the front row for the upcoming "super bowl" of dog shows.

Not Ready for Prime Time

Citing an unnamed source, the Chicago Sun-Times reported yesterday that New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez went "ballistic" after cameras caught the slugger being hand-fed popcorn by actress Cameron Diaz between plays during Super Bowl XLV. The source claims A-Rod was reportedly given a guarantee that he would not be televised to the 111 million Super Bowl viewers again, but the practice has been around broadcasting for years. Does Jack Nicholson object to being shown attending Lakers games? Does Spike Lee fret sitting courtside at Knicks' contests? How many times did Fox Sports show us President Bush and wife, Laura, John Madden, Sylvester Stallone or Condolezza Rice in Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones' box? Before popping off over popcorn protocol, perhaps Rodriguez should ponder the plausable possibility of the producer's preference for blondes.

Trip of a Lifetime

Initially suspended without pay for the remainder of the season and fined $25,000 by the New York Jets for sticking out his knee to disrupt Miami's Nolan Carroll during a Dec. 12 game at Meadowlands Stadium, strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi resigned yesterday, less than two months after he was caught tripping an opposing player during a punt return. Alosi acknowledged he ordered players to form a wall along the sideline in post-incident discussions with team officals and Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum determined that "it is best for him to tender his resignation." With several staff positions open around the NFL, Alosi should fare well securing another job. Besides, he already has a leg up on his competition.